March 2009

March 14, 2009

As the Newark Star-Ledger wrote, the basketball gods apparently owed him one.

Against Connecticut on Thursday, with 1.1 seconds left in regulation, Syracuse's Eric Devendorf threw up a prayer of a 3-pointer, which went in and sent Devendorf into joy and theatrics.

However, the replay showed that just as the clock expired, the ball was still hanging on to the tips of his fingers. He had climbed up on the scoring table and posed in this classic, oh, never mind photo.

Because the shot didn't count, Syracuse's quarterfinal game against Connecticut ended up becoming a six-overtime marathon classic.

On Friday, Devendorf's half-court shot that beat the halftime buzzer did count, and Syracuse went on to beat West Virginia -- in one overtime.

When Luke Nevill is at his most dominant, Utah's offense becomes downright monotonous. The Utes simply pass to the Australian big man and repeatedly watch him create points.

Against upstart Wyoming, Utah rolled into the Mountain West Conference tournament title game with Nevill and his offense at the height of monotony.

Nevill had 23 points and 15 rebounds in another commanding low-post performance, and Utah easily held off the Cowboys 68-55 victory on Friday night.

Carlon Brown scored 13 points for the second-seeded Utes (23-9), who have won 10 of 12. They'll face fourth-seeded San Diego State in Saturday's championship game.

After foul trouble limited Nevill to one field goal in Utah's quarterfinal win over TCU, the Utes leaned squarely on their 7-foot-2 center against Wyoming. The Mountain West's player of the year got the ball down low on most possessions in the second half, methodically scoring 12 points and passing out of double-teams to hold off the smaller Cowboys (19-13).

It took a shot in the final second for Utah to beat TCU in a quarterfinal game Thursday night.

March 13, 2009

Zaire Taylor scored a season-high 19 points and Leo Lyons added 12 of his 15 points in the second half as No. 14 Missouri beat Oklahoma State 67-59 to move on to the Big 12 championship game.

It was a clash between two of the nation’s highest-scoring offenses, but it sure didn’t look that way. The teams combined to shoot only 18 percent from 3-point range, making just 10 of 55 on the night.

Kim English scored four points in an 8-0 burst that put Missouri ahead midway through the second half, and the Tigers (27-6) pushed the lead to 54-47 when Matt Lawrence connected on a rare 3-pointer from the right corner with 5:21 to play.

The Tigers hung on from there to earn a spot in Saturday’s title game (5 p.m., ESPN) against ninth-seeded Baylor.

James Anderson scored 20 points to lead Oklahoma State (22-11), and Marshall Moses had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

The Bears did just that on Friday night, albeit barely. Jessica Morrow and Melissa Jones each scored 15 points and No. 7 Baylor rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to beat Oklahoma State 67-62 in a quarterfinal game of the Big 12 Conference tournament in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma State (16-15) led 43-28 with 16:33 left, but only made three second-half field goals, none in the final 5:19. Baylor (25-5) used a 10-0 run to close the gap and took the lead for the first time since the opening moments with 1:51 left on two free throws by Kelli Griffin. The Bears scored the game’s final eight points.

The Baylor Bears ended their losing streak to Texas at 24 games, beating the Longhorns 76-70 to advance to the Big 12 championship game for a shot at an automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

It was Baylor's first men's basketball victory over Texas since Feb. 21, 1998, in Waco.

Texas led 65-61 with 2:39 left, but Baylor went ahead to stay on LaceDarius Dunn's 3-point shot with 1:12 remaining, giving the Bears a 67-65 lead.

A.J. Abrams' 3-pointer from 25 feet or more with 17.1 seconds remaining pulled Texas back to within 72-70, but Dunn answered with four more free throws to give the No. 9 seed in the tournament its third straight victory in Oklahoma City and a trip to the final on Saturday.

Baylor will play the winner of the Missouri-Oklahoma State semifinal for the championship.

Dunn missed the second half of a two-shot foul with 26.6 seconds remaining and Baylor ahead 70-67, but Curtis Jerrells squeezed in for the long rebound and was fouled. Jerrells then canned both free throws for a five-point margin.

Kevin Rogers led Baylor with 20 points and Henry Dugat had 17. Dunn finished with 16. Abrams led Texas with 20.

A circus shot by Varez Ward and a free throw to complete a three-point play that put Texas ahead was answered by a circus jump shot by Baylor's Henry Dugat, and the Bears and Longhorns are tied at 3:57 at the media timeout.

There hasn't been more than a three-point margin in the seesaw battle since Baylor took the lead at 46-45 after Texas had led since the early going.

Baylor has overtaken Texas 46-45 after six straight points from Henry Dugat, who completed a three-point play with 15:43 remaining in the Big 12 tournament semifinal game in Oklahoma City.

The Bears have lost 24 games in a row to the Longhorns, and UT coach Rick Barnes has never lost to Da Bears.

Do you believe in another Miracle on the Braz ... wait, too early for that.

Texas is almost certainly in the NCAA Tournament, Baylor has to win the Big 12 tourney.

Texas led by as much as 12 in the first half, and were up 37-25 with 2:13 left in the first half on A.J. Abrams' 3-pointer when Baylor began its run straddling the halves. Baylor scored eight straight points before Texas' Clint Chapman's dunk gave the Horns a 39-33 halftime lead.